RECENT NEWS

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting (pictured), has asked NHS leaders to prioritise patient safety as the health service battles record pressures heading into winter, the Department of Health & Social Care reports.

Advanced nurse call specialist, Wandsworth Healthcare, has opened a new Digital Patient Journey Experience Centre at its Woking headquarters, ‘showcasing the latest integrated digital solutions designed to streamline healthcare operations and enhance the patient journey – from the point of arrival through to discharge’.

The Industry Competence Steering Group (ICSG) has announced ‘a comprehensive restructure’ to enhance competence and safety standards across the built environment.

‘After considerable negotiations’, the locations of two potential sites for new hospitals to be built as part of the New Hospital Programme to replace Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary have been revealed.

The impact of legislative and design changes and the drive towards Net Zero on the standby power generation market will be the focus of a webinar being hosted by Health Estate Journal on 10 December, presented by Business consultant at WB Power Services, Geoff Halliday.

A new general medicine ward has been opened at North Tyneside General Hospital in North Shields to ease capacity challenges and improve patient experience during their time at the hospital.

A range of Forbo Flooring Systems’ flooring – including its ‘climate positive (carbon negative)’ Marmoleum floorcovering – has been specified by architects, Ansell and Bailey, for a new Oncology Outpatients Department at Hammersmith Hospital.

Tilbury Douglas, a UK building, infrastructure, engineering, and fit-out business, has successfully built Knowl Park House in Mirfield, a ‘state-of-the-art’ dementia daycare centre and Centre of Excellence for Kirklees Council.

CLD Physical Security Systems (CLD), which provides on-ground and in-ground security solutions, recently hosted a BRE Attack Testing Day, where it showcased the strength and durability of its security systems under extreme testing conditions.

Global programme and project delivery consultant and construction expert, Mace, has been appointed to the NHS Building for Wales 2 Framework ‘to support the delivery of outstanding healthcare facilities with healthcare boards and Trusts across Wales’.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) Community Midwife Unit (CMU) in Paisley in Scotland has transformed into an Alongside Midwife Unit (AMU), open now, with the upgrade providing pregnant women with enhanced birthing rooms and a wider range of labouring aids, all within a serene and tranquil setting.

Bolstering its ‘end-to-end’ prefabrication, offsite manufacturing, modular assembly, and packaged plant rooms services, mechanical and electrical specialist, Livingston Building Services has acquired Bathgate-based ‘bespoke engineering specialist’, JB Engineering.

Heatherwood Hospital, designed by multidisciplinary design practice, BDP, has been named the best elective care centre in England by patients.

Construction company, development specialist, and property management business, Stepnell, has opened a new office in Liverpool’s Albert Docks, in a move that it says ‘marks a significant step’ in its expansion into the North West.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are being given the chance to engage with their bigger counterparts, along with education and governments, ‘to help drive policy reform, close the skills gap, and generate growth’, with the recent Westminster launch of The Enginuity Alliance, ‘a unique body structured to help British industry compete with the strictures and challenges ahead’.

BES, the ‘specialist in design and construction of technically complex environments for pharmaceutical, healthcare and advanced scientific sectors’, has completed phase one of new cleanroom and manufacturing facilities for Terumo Aortic (Vascutek) in Glasgow.

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has launched three new soft facilities management (FM) procurement solutions designed to ‘enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure high-quality environments for NHS patients, staff, and visitors’.

A multi-million-pound improvement programme to expand the Emergency Department at Worthing Hospital began on 22 November with a special ground-breaking event.

The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has published a fully revised version of its long-established industry guidance, 'DW145: Installation of Fire Dampers and Smoke Dampers'.

Clean air technology specialist, Howorth Air Technology, which designs, manufactures, and assembles ultraclean air equipment for use in operating theatres, and for the pharma, biotechnology, and life science industries, is moving its headquarters to ‘a flagship north-west development’ to meet growing demand and its future expansion plans.